Tuesday, 20 January 2015

The Shadow Game

As already mentioned there is presently a Cold War situation in Darmonica, but there is plenty going on behind the scenes in the form of cloak and dagger scenes. It is likely that the various organisations involved may employ the players for some nefarious means or to frustrate the plans of a rival.

Here are, effectively, the main players (listed by country) in the so-called 'Shadow Game'.

Commonwealth - Royal Reconnaissance Service

The Royal Reconnaissance Service (or RRS for short) was originally a topographical agency formed to supply the Commonwealth with accurate maps, but gradually it was used by the Commonwealth military to gather information and then evolved into the Commonwealth's intelligence agency. Its original map making role remains, if anything the Scout-General is keen on maintaining this facade to waylaid enemy agents, but it has become an effective espionage agency that proved its worth during the Great Darmonican War.

Typically the RRS likes to recruit informants from amongst the local population in a certain area, it saves the hassle of trying to integrate a group of agents when just one handler is needed and a local is more likely to overhear something that a normal agent won't. It runs the risk of double agents infiltrating the RRS' informant networks but thankfully the informants are low key enough to avoid drawing unwanted attention.

Artian Confederation - Der Geheimdienst

Formed following the outbreak of the Tyland-Artian War over a century earlier, the Geheimdienst has a reputation for being brutally efficient. It is very good at the military intelligence side of things, though other aspects of espionage find it lacking somewhat. It was only recently discovered that the director of the Artian top spy school was actually a Sodkan agent, something that saw heads rolls when that little embarrassment saw the light of day. The agency has seen a major overhaul and a series of reforms to address the areas in which it has been found wanting.

Its saving grace has been anti-partisan operations in Tylander territory occupied by Artian forces.

Tyland - anCumann

The Guild is the name given to what counts as the Tyland espionage agency, though traditionally Tylander espionage has involved assassinations and rather liberal amounts of poison. Prior to the Tyland-Artian War it was heavily involved in the bickering between Tylander nobles, though the War quickly bucked up it ideas and it branched out into intelligence gathering. It refined its skills during the Great Darmonican War and it still active to this day supporting resistance movements in occupied Tyland territory.

Upward momentum through the ranks still involves filling a dead man's shoes.

The Iron Collective - The Scrutinizers

Much like the Iron Collective, the Scrutinizers are internally focused and mainly concerned with safeguarding the smooth running of the Collective. Its job is to prevent sabotage and counter-espionage, basically stopping foreign agents from stealing the Collective's secrets. It also acts as a secret police, watching over the Collective citizens and ensuring that they don't act in any way that could be considered traitorous to the Collective.

Though the Scutinizers do have a handful of agents out in the wider world, though they are tasked with tracking down Ancient Terran and lost Sodkan technology.Coalition - External Audit Department

The corporate powers behind the Coalition take their copyrights and profits very seriously, the External Audit Department (EAD for short) despatches operatives to hunt down and recover stolen Coalition property and secrets by any means necessary.

It is wise to off-load Coalition marked goods at the earliest possible opportunity.

Union of Sodkan Republics - Allied Security Bureau

Formed out of a desire to improve co-operation between the various Sodkan Republics, the Allied Security Bureau was meant to serve as a united agency to help defend the Republics against foreign espionage. Trouble is that the ASB is just as fractured as the Union itself, plagued by constant backstabbing between its agents. Often an agent will run an operation to simply counter and frustrate the efforts of another agent, there is some rare cases of co-operation such as a successful spy ring keeping tabs on the Iron Collective. Sultanate of Taramate - Nobetciler

Known to the world as the Sentinels, the Nobetciler is the Sultan's elite bodyguards who protect him against different threats. They are also the Sultan's eyes and ears in the world, though are they loosely organised and seen as ineffective by the various agencies of other countries. But they are most certainly deadly shadows and most people never saw them until the glint of the dagger by which point it was too late.